CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Upbring, the operator of local Head Start programs, has opened only four of 14 planned centers since taking over in January, citing safety concerns with the facilities.
The free program helps children under 5 years old from low-income families prepare for school.
"Right now we do have 14 centers that are projected to be open, however, at this time, based on the licensing progress and everything that we've had to go through, we have four that have opened," said Sandy Salinas-Deleon, Nueces County Regional Director for Upbring.
Delays stem from building conditions discovered after Upbring took over operations in January. Officials say the timing created unusual challenges.
"Once we were in there and all of the assessments and inspections were done by an independent inspector, we realized that the buildings were not up to what we would consider to be our standard for care, for safety of the children," said Roxanna Garza, Superintendent.
Two more locations (Austin and Navarro) are set to open on June 2. In the meantime, Upbring continues to provide home-based services to eligible families.
When asked about parents' reactions to the situation, Salinas-Deleon said, "They do understand at the end of the day that we look at their child's safety and the safety of our staff as a priority."
Upbring officials remain adamant that they've kept families informed throughout the process.
"The communication that we have given to them every week we're explaining the processes that we're going through," Salinas-Deleon said.
While Upbring officials couldn't provide an exact date for opening the remaining eight Head Start locations, they say the goal is to have them all operational by the end of the year.
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